Core Fundamentals

coming soon. 

You could workout 10 hours a day and if you did not eat right, all that would be for waste. Remember; we're all busy people, so the time you put in the gym you want to make sure it counts for every second. That's why it's so important to make sure the diet and nutrition is dialed in 100%. I'm going to break down the first major concept that you need to have down here in the next few paragraphs, so have a pencil and paper out so you can take notes --> no passive studying only active!  

NOT ALL CALORIES ARE THE SAME: WE ONLY CARE ABOUT THE MACROS! 

I'm not here to information overload you with different types of complicated formulas for calculating the most precise basal metabolic rates, glycemic index's, nutrient partitioning, and all that jazz...that's for much later once you have the fundamentals down.  

This is all you have to know (don't worry about if you don't know what all this means, I'll explain it all here in a second simply): 

1. Count the Macro's  
2. Know your basic maintenance calories  
3. Have a way to keep track of what you eat with either a scale or measuring cups  

That's it! Does not matter if your losing weight, trying to gain weight, just trying to maintain your weight, whatever the reason... these basic 3 things you will apply all the time. Now let me explain further in detail each of the 3 things. 

1.COUNT THE MACROS:

Macro's stand for macronutrients and there are 3 'Macro's you need to count: 

• Carbohydrates (4 calories of energy per gram): Mainly sugars and starches that come in simple forms such as sugars and in complex forms such as starches and fiber. Simple carbs are easy to break down and spike your insulin quickly. Complex carbs take more time for the body to breakdown and thus the insulin release is slower avoiding a spike and fall. Complex carbs are always the better choice when deciding which type of carb to go for. Examples of complex carbs are things that are not processed such as brown rice, whole wheat bread, potatoes, and mostly unprocessed stuff. Examples of simple carbs are things like white bread, white rice, processed/packaged food such as chips, crackers, honey, etc.   
• Protein (4 calories of energy per gram):This is the macronutrient that is made up of amino acids, which are literally the building blocks of muscle. I look at protein as amino acid chains made up of either essential amino acids or non-essential amino acids. A good mnemonic I used in medical school to remember the essential amino acids was this (however this isn't really necessary to memorize in the context of tracking macros). You get your essential amino acids from sources of protein such as meat, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, poultry, lentils, nuts, etc. (the common misconception of just being a meat eater to get protein is false, you can be a vegetarian and still get your protein in easily).  
• Fat (9 calories of energy per gram): Fat is not the "bad" macronutrient, lots of people will look at this and just assume fats are bad, which is false. There are different types of fats: Trans Fat, Saturated Fat, and Unsaturated Fat. Trans Fat are bad and should not be included in your diet in general or limited as much as possible. Saturated Fats and Unsaturated Fats I think of as puzzle pieces that are easy to fit together (Saturated) and puzzle pieces that are randomly arranged (Unsaturated) and are much harder to piece together. Clearly the saturated fats (the easy puzzle pieces) will store much easier than the unsaturated fats (weirdly shaped puzzle pieces). Good unsaturated fats are things like avocados, nuts, olives, fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna, etc. Saturated fats are things such as fatty beef, cheese, butter, etc.  

On anything you eat, you want to look at the nutrition label on the back and specifically the stuff highlighted with the red boxes on the image here. Once you see the macros, just either make a note in your phone or use app's such as MyFitnessPal to count your macros.

Here's an example of using an app to count the macro's 

2.KNOW YOUR BASIC MAINTENANCE CALORIES:

Okay this is where you can spend literally hours debating and talking shop about all the different variations of calculating the macro's and what percentage to use for calculating maintenance vs cutting/bulking macro's. There's so much complicated information overload when trying to figure out your basic Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) and Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), that most people just end up getting frustrated and say “fuck it” and just drop the whole thing. I don't want you doing that so here's the bottom line: I'm going to give you the basic calculator settings for you to calculate the TDEE and then the split of carbs/proteins/fat to use for counting your macro's. 

Forget about all that other stuff, you can focus in on that once you're getting some results, but for now here is what you need to do: 

• Use this link to calculate the TDEE and write it down on a piece of paper 

Here is an example of my TDEE (write down the # I highlighted with the red  box and ignore the BMI stuff, all that is irrevelant to us) 

• We will use a 35Carb/30Protein/35Fat split for the Maintenance Macro's and you can do that simply by the following: 

                                       (TDEE x 0.35) = grams of carbs and fats allowed a day  

                                       (TDEE x 0.3) = gram so protein allowed a day 

Based on my TDEE (4200 calories), my Maintenance Macro's are 367g carbs, 315g protein, and 163g fat . Again, I understand that based on if you want to cut or bulk, the macro's will change but that is super easy to alter, but the fundamental concept of knowing your macro's is key and being able to calculate that is key to your diet success outside of working out in the gym.  

Once you have your grams of Carbs, Proteins, and Fats allowed per day just keep track of that whenever you eat...which brings me to my last point of this post.  

3.HAVE A WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT YOU EAT AND YOUR MACROS!

If you don't have a plan than you're ultimately planning to fail, so when it comes to tracking your macros, the same concept applies.  

When eating throughout the day, here are the main things you absolutely need to have to track your macros: 

1. Food Scale: I use a basic one that allows me to reset easily so I can add things like rice and chicken to the same plate of food, don't need anything fancy.  
2. MyFitnessPal App or Basic notepad app on phone: I'm a firm believer of using MyFitnessPal since you can just search the food item or scan the barcode and it automatically populates the carb/protein/fat breakdown as well as a great graphic user interface for seeing what your totals are. Here's an example of a video showing how to use the app. (yes I am aware it's an older link but it's made by the official app company and the basic premise is the same).  
3. Measuring utensils: Having basic measuring tools such as measuring cups, measuring spoons, and Tupperware all helps make the process that much more efficient and streamlined.  

The easier you make this stuff, the less likely you're willing to forget it, and ultimately the quicker you make it a habit that you can consistently do without even thinking. 

In the next few posts, I will go into more detail on how to specifically tailor your eating, examples of meal plans, and tips on the macro/diet stuff tailored to fat loss, bulking, recompositioning, and just overall general maintenance of your body. 

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